Join the police.
Every force in England and Wales to apply to, what the assessment involves, and the routes in. Then get through it first time with practice that’s built for the real thing.
Why Points to Prove
Walk into the assessment ready.
Plenty of good applicants fall at the sift or the interview, not for lack of the right stuff but because nobody showed them what’s being scored. We do.
- Situational judgement practice against the clock, with the reasoning behind every best answer.
- The written exercises, with what a strong answer looks like.
- Interview questions mapped to the competencies and values, so your examples land.
- Then the law for training once you’re in: offences, powers and PACE for student officers.
Applicant plan £9.99 a month, or £24 for 3 months.
Police forces in England and Wales
You apply to a force, not to “the police”. Search by force, county or town to find yours, then look for Careers or Join us on their website to see whether they’re recruiting.
44 forces
- Avon and Somerset PoliceSouth West · Bristol, Bath, Somerset, Weston-super-Mare, Taunton, Yeovil
- Bedfordshire PoliceEast of England · Bedford, Luton, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard
- Cambridgeshire ConstabularyEast of England · Cambridge, Peterborough, Huntingdon, Ely, Wisbech
- Cheshire ConstabularyNorth West · Chester, Warrington, Crewe, Macclesfield, Runcorn, Widnes
- City of London PoliceLondon · The City of London, the Square Mile, national fraud lead
- Cleveland PoliceNorth East · Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar
- Cumbria ConstabularyNorth West · Carlisle, Barrow-in-Furness, Kendal, Workington, Penrith, the Lake District
- Derbyshire ConstabularyEast Midlands · Derby, Chesterfield, Buxton, the Peak District
- Devon and Cornwall PoliceSouth West · Plymouth, Exeter, Torquay, Truro, Cornwall, Isles of Scilly
- Dorset PoliceSouth West · Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch, Dorchester, Weymouth
- Durham ConstabularyNorth East · Durham, Darlington, Consett, Bishop Auckland, Peterlee
- Dyfed-Powys PoliceWales · Carmarthen, Aberystwyth, Llanelli, Haverfordwest, Powys, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire
- Essex PoliceEast of England · Chelmsford, Colchester, Southend-on-Sea, Basildon, Harlow
- Gloucestershire ConstabularySouth West · Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stroud, the Forest of Dean, the Cotswolds
- Greater Manchester PoliceNorth West · Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale, Wigan, Bury, Trafford, Tameside
- Gwent PoliceWales · Newport, Cwmbran, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight ConstabularySouth East · Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester, Basingstoke, the Isle of Wight
- Hertfordshire ConstabularyEast of England · St Albans, Watford, Stevenage, Hemel Hempstead, Hertford
- Humberside PoliceYorkshire and the Humber · Hull, Grimsby, Scunthorpe, Beverley, East Riding
- Kent PoliceSouth East · Maidstone, Canterbury, Medway, Ashford, Dover, Folkestone, Tunbridge Wells
- Lancashire ConstabularyNorth West · Preston, Blackpool, Blackburn, Burnley, Lancaster
- Leicestershire PoliceEast Midlands · Leicester, Loughborough, Hinckley, Rutland, Melton Mowbray
- Lincolnshire PoliceEast Midlands · Lincoln, Grantham, Boston, Skegness, Spalding
- Merseyside PoliceNorth West · Liverpool, the Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley, Sefton, Southport
- Metropolitan PoliceLondon · Greater London, all 32 London boroughs, the Met
- Norfolk ConstabularyEast of England · Norwich, Great Yarmouth, King’s Lynn, Thetford
- North Wales PoliceWales · Wrexham, Bangor, Rhyl, Llandudno, Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy
- North Yorkshire PoliceYorkshire and the Humber · York, Harrogate, Scarborough, Northallerton, Selby
- Northamptonshire PoliceEast Midlands · Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Daventry
- Northumbria PoliceNorth East · Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, North and South Tyneside, Northumberland
- Nottinghamshire PoliceEast Midlands · Nottingham, Mansfield, Newark, Worksop
- South Wales PoliceWales · Cardiff, Swansea, Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot, the Vale of Glamorgan
- South Yorkshire PoliceYorkshire and the Humber · Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham, Barnsley
- Staffordshire PoliceWest Midlands · Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford, Burton upon Trent, Tamworth, Lichfield
- Suffolk ConstabularyEast of England · Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Lowestoft, Felixstowe
- Surrey PoliceSouth East · Guildford, Woking, Epsom, Redhill, Staines, Camberley
- Sussex PoliceSouth East · Brighton and Hove, Crawley, Worthing, Eastbourne, Hastings, Chichester
- Thames Valley PoliceSouth East · Oxford, Reading, Milton Keynes, Slough, High Wycombe, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire
- Warwickshire PoliceWest Midlands · Warwick, Leamington Spa, Nuneaton, Rugby, Stratford-upon-Avon
- West Mercia PoliceWest Midlands · Worcester, Hereford, Shrewsbury, Telford, Kidderminster, Shropshire
- West Midlands PoliceWest Midlands · Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall, Solihull, Sandwell
- West Yorkshire PoliceYorkshire and the Humber · Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Halifax, Kirklees, Calderdale
- Wiltshire PoliceSouth West · Swindon, Salisbury, Chippenham, Trowbridge
- British Transport PoliceNational · Railways across England, Wales and Scotland, the London Underground
No force matches that. Try a county or a bigger town nearby.
How to become a police officer
The same national stages at every force. The sift and the assessment are where many good applicants fall.
- 1
Apply to a force
Fill in the national application form through the force you want to join. Each force opens and closes recruitment on its own timetable.
- 2
The online sift
A situational judgement test and a questionnaire about how you work: what would you do, and why, in situations officers meet.
We help here - 3
The online assessment
Written and recorded exercises marked against the competencies and values for policing.
We help here - 4
The force interview
A face-to-face interview with your force, asking for real examples of what you’ve done.
- 5
Fitness, medical and vetting
The bleep test to level 5.4, a medical and eyesight check, references, and vetting of you and the people close to you.
- 6
Start training
You join as a student officer on one of the entry routes, earning a full constable’s salary from day one.
Routes in: PCDA, DHEP and PCEP
Every route starts on the same pay and ends with you as a constable. Which ones are open depends on the force.
PCDA · 3 years
Degree apprenticeship
Earn while you learn and finish with a degree in professional policing practice. For people without a degree.
DHEP · 2 years
Degree holder entry
Already have a degree in any subject? Train on the job and finish with a graduate diploma. Some forces run a detective version.
PCEP · 2 years
Constable entry programme
The non-degree route: train on the job without studying for a degree.
Policing degree · Then 2 years
Pre-join degree
Study a professional policing degree at your own pace and cost first, then join and train as a constable.
Training is where the law comes in: offences, powers and PACE. Our student officer plan (£8.99 a month) covers it for every route.
Can I join?
The main things every force checks. Your force’s website has the full list.
What police officers earn| Age | You can apply at 17 and start at 18. There’s no upper limit, though officers usually retire at 60. |
|---|---|
| Right to live here | British, Irish or Commonwealth citizens, EU citizens with settled status, or anyone with indefinite leave to remain. |
| Living in the UK | Most forces need you to have lived here for the last three years, so you can be vetted. |
| Fitness | Reach level 5.4 on the 15-metre bleep test. It’s the same standard at every age. |
| Health and eyesight | A medical and an eyesight test. Glasses and contact lenses are usually fine. |
| Record and finances | Declare every caution and conviction, even spent ones. Debt is fine if you’re managing it. |
Other ways into policing
- Special constable
- A volunteer officer with the same powers as a regular, giving at least a few hours a month. A good way to find out if it’s for you.
- PCSO
- Police community support officers work in neighbourhoods, with a narrower set of powers. Many go on to become constables.
- Police staff
- Call handlers, detention officers, investigators and analysts. Some forces recruit staff investigators straight into detective work.
- Detective entry
- Some forces run a detective version of the degree holder route. You’ll sit the National Investigators’ Exam along the way.
Questions people ask
How do I join the police in England and Wales?
Apply to the force you want to join when it’s recruiting. Every force uses the same national stages: an application form, an online situational judgement sift, an online assessment and an interview with the force, then a fitness test, medical and vetting.
Do you need a degree to join the police?
No. The degree apprenticeship (PCDA) earns you a degree while you work, and the police constable entry programme (PCEP) has no degree at all. Graduates can join on the degree holder entry programme (DHEP). Not every force runs every route.
How long does it take to join the police?
Often somewhere between four months and a year from application to your first day, depending on the force and how long vetting takes.
What is the police fitness test?
A 15-metre shuttle run (bleep test) to level 5.4: running back and forth in time with the bleeps, which get faster. It’s the same standard for everyone, whatever their age.
Can you join the police with a criminal record?
Sometimes. You must declare everything, including cautions and spent convictions. Some offences rule you out; others are judged case by case, looking at what happened, how long ago and how old you were.
How much do police officers earn when they start?
£32,255 from 1 September 2026, rising to £52,015 at the top of the constable scale, plus London weighting and allowances in some forces.
Is there an age limit to join the police?
You must be 18 to start (17 to apply). There’s no upper age limit, but bear in mind officers usually retire at 60 and the training takes two or three years.
How do I prepare for the police assessment?
Learn the competencies and values you’re scored on, practise situational judgement questions against the clock, and prepare real examples for the interview. Our applicant plan has all three.
Entry rules and routes vary between forces and change over time, so check your force’s careers pages before you apply. Points to Prove is independent and isn’t connected to the College of Policing or any force. More guides:police ranks, police pay andpolice mental health support.